Israel's defense minister threatened Tuesday to force out all of Gaza City's residents and displace a million people in the war-ravaged territory if any Israeli is abducted in the future.
Speaking at a memorial for the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Defense Minister Israel Katz also threatened the destruction of infrastructure, which, like the forced displacement of civilians, constitutes a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.
"I hereby warn the terrorist organization and its supporters, from Iran to Erdogan -- if a single Israeli soldier or civilian is kidnapped, the entire city of Gaza, with its houses and terror towers, will be evacuated southward with its million residents," Katz said, referring to Hamas and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an outspoken critic of Israel's Gaza campaign.
